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See the sights of La Manche in just 48 hours!

Choose from our top pick of activities and sightseeing suggestions in Normandy

You're off on holiday to Normandy to recharge your batteries and you have just 48 hours to explore the wonderful département of La Manche.
Looking for inspiration? Want to seek out all the very best bits of Normandy: hidden gems, enchanted backwaters and unusual attractions?
Just follow our guide to enjoy a host of activities and leisure options in just 48 hours. Countryside rambles, city sightseeing, cultural experiences, fine food and wine... Take time out to treat yourself!

Urban sightseeing and foodie treats on your short break

La Manche is also where the D-Day Landings took place. After the Second World War several towns were rebuilt, and some are still brimming with old-fashioned charm. Granville–Coutances– Cherbourg– Villedieu les Poêles… and lots of others are among our remarkable towns which are an absolute must, for cultural sightseeing and for a different experience. And while you're out and about in La Manche, Normandy you can enjoy a whole range of different activities.

On your Normandy holiday, what could be nicer than soaking up the local atmosphere and taking in the pretty urban architecture you'll find all over La Manche? Taking time out to enjoy our fine food and wine, chilling on a café terrace, spoiling yourself at a gastro restaurant or treating yourself to a delicious Normandy speciality at a traditional French boulangerie.

Top tips for culture vultures

Want to learn more about the history of this part of Normandy? Culture and tourism, art and street entertainment, exhibitions and arts-and-crafts-themed sightseeing. In La Manche, anything goes! Find the activity that's right for you.

Countryside breaks in Normandy

La Manche is a rural fresh-air destination where you can commune with nature. It's a place of endless natural beaches with a rich flora and fauna unique to the area which finds a safe haven in the protected nature areas around La Manche. A place of waterfalls, marshes, our unmistakable bocage hedgerows and dunes, La Manche is full of surprises!

Take time out for yourself

Taking the time to treat yourself is important too. It's the secret ingredient that will make this holiday your best yet! In La Manche, there are lot of activities on offer to help you relax and unwind. Indulge in a little pampering with someone special in one of La Manche's amazing health spas, devour a good book by the seaside, or go out partying in La Manche, Normandy.

The amphibious vehicle in Saint-Vaast-La-Hougue

The only way to get to the Île de Tatihou is on board the amphibious vehicle that runs sightseeing trips from the village of Saint-Vaast-La-Hougue. This extraordinary vehicle will get you there over the sea at high tide and over the land at low tide, in just 10 minutes!

Street lights that change colour with the tides

In the port of Cherbourgthe streets lamps change colour to keep pace with the changing tide, shining alternately blue or green in tune with the ebb and flow of the sea along the Cotentin coast. The artist Yann Kersalé has created an amazing spectacle with his play of light in Cherbourg, giving the town a completely different feel at night. Experience a light show with a difference in Cherbourg, Normandy.

France's second tallest lighthouse

Near the village of Barfleur, famous for being France's smallest port, the Gatteville-Barfleur Lighthouse dominates the headland. Built from 1775 onwards, it's 75 m high and has as many steps as there are days in the year!

Witness a rare phenomenon: the tidal bore

The effect of the high tides on our coastal rivers creates an amazing spectacle which draws spectators from far and wide. In La Manche département in Normandy, the tide creates a bore several feet high that rushes up the Rivers Sée and Sélune at up to 10 miles an hour, attracting a crowd of "surfers".

> La Pointe du Grouin du Sud
Where the southernmost tip of the parish of Vains (west of Avranches) juts out into the bay, just 3 minutes from the Mont Saint-Michel ecomuseum.

> Pontaubault
On the river by the village of Pontaubault, just to the south of Avranches, every year the Pontaubault Loisir association organises the Fête du Mascaret (Bore Festival).

Set sail for the Îles Chausey, a little corner of paradise off the coast of La Manche!

Want to get away from it all? Looking for a Robinson Crusoe experience? Then cast off and sail away to the little group of heavenly islands that are the Îles Chausey! A real get-away-from-it-all experience just an hour's boat ride from Granville.
With someone special, with all the family, and even with your dog, you'll spend an unforgettable day exploring Chausey. With 52 islands at high tide and 365 at low tide, the Chausey Archipelago is the largest in Europe!